Artis, short for Natura Artis Magistra (Latin for "Nature is the teacher of art"), is a zoo in the centre of Amsterdam. It is the oldest zoo of the Netherlands. In addition to the zoo, Artis has a planetarium, a geological museum and a zoological museum.
The zoo was founded in 1838 by Gerard Westerman, J.W.H. Werlemann and J.J. Wijsmuller (also known as the three Ws). It is commonly referred to as Artis, because the zoo has three gates with Artis Natura Magistra written above them (as shown on the picture). Usually only the first gate was open, so people who walked through that gate, looked what was written above it and saw 'Artis', thinking that the zoo was just called Artis. Soon few knew it as Artis Natura Magistra.
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